We started a stock game in my Investment class on Monday. We had to have the stock picked on Monday, and the closing price was Monday nights close.
Since it is only a 2 month game, I didn't look into a stock as I would have if it had been longer (nor did I look at it as if it was real money, since it isn't). Instead, I looked for a stock that I considered to be "on sale" and that had potential for good gains in the next 2 months. One thing to realize is I was willing to take more risk because it is not real money. There is no grade for doing bad for the project, you simply don't stand as good of a chance to get grade bonuses if your stock does bad.
I picked Nintendo. Their stock has already adjusted quite significantly in regards to them saying they will post a loss for the fiscal year as well as the strong yen. I am sort of banking on the idea that they have a good couple months, and perhaps the Yen becomes less of an issue for the finances.
My starting price was 17.32 and it is currently at 18.36...a healthy 6% gain in 4 days, with the S&P index up only .7%
If our class beats the S&P index, everybody gets a 2/3 grade increase (B to A-, B+ to A, etc).
As a college kid, I obviously don't have tons of money, but I have also been thinking about potentially investing $1,000-$3,000 in the stock market. Obviously it would take quite a bit of research. One issue is I don't have tons of money, so I wouldn't necessarily be able to keep it in the market for prolonged periods (I would prefer not to have any student loans if possible).
One possible scenario I have thought of is to get in a more stable stock that pays good dividends. Obviously the whole thing would be more for the fun aspect than anything, because even a 15% gain would only represent $450 if I invested 3 grand.
Money can't buy happiness. Just video games, which make me happy.
